Sliding patio door lock assembly



A rils, 1969 R. w. WALTERS 3, 37

SLIDING PATIO DOOR LOCK ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 21; 1967 Sheet of 2 April 8, 1969 R. w. WALTERS I 6 SLIDING PATIO DOOR LOCK ASSEMBLY Sheet of 2 Filed Sept. 21, 1967 \\Q M Wm m M m QM aw Q i NW WNW e mw QW \N N wh why United States Patent US. Cl. 292-113 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A look assembly utilized on a sliding door and having a rotatable lock bolt providing an exposed hook end cooperating with a locking plate or strike mounted in the edge of the door jamb and having an opening receiving the hook end of the bolt. The lock assembly is mounted within the edge of the door and has a rotatable hub adapted to be actuated by a suitable handle operatively connected thereto; the hub having a pivot arm normally biased to locked position. A pair of locking arms are operatively connected at one end to the end of the pivot arm opposite to the hub and at the opposite ends to a pin extending through the rotatable lock bolt. A pair of spaced adjusting plates cooperating with the locking arms and bolt being mounted at one end on the hub and at the opposite end having serrations cooperating with a pivoted adjusting member having a clamping screw therefor; the adjusting plates having arcuate slots receiving the pin to define the path of movement thereof to swing the lock bolt between locked and unlocked position.

The present invention relates to a lock assembly and more particularly to a lock assembly such as for a sliding door or panel leading from a home to a patio or porch.

Among the objects of the present invention is the provision of a lock assembly for a sliding door or panel where the lock assembly is received in an edge of the door and cooperates with a locking plate or strike aligned therewith on the door frame or jamb. The lock assembly includes a rotatable hub on a pivot arm adapted to be actuated by a suitable tool or handle and having the pivot arm connected at the end opposite the hub to one end of each of a pair of locking arms which are operatively connected at their opposite ends through a control pin to a swinging lock bolt. A pair of adjusting plates control the movement of the locking arms and control pin for swinging movement of the lock bolt, the latter being mounted to swing on a pivot pin retained in position by the adjustment plates.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a lock assembly for a sliding door where the lock bolt in locked position has a deadlocking position requiring a short horizontal movement rearward of the bolt prior to the swinging of the bolt to unlocked position. The deadlocking position and the path of movement of the swinging bolt is effected by aligned arcuate slots in the adjustment plates having a deadlocking recess at one end of the arcuate slots. The control pin carried by the locking arms projects through the lock bolt, locking arms and into the slots in the adjustment plates and cooperates with the plates to provide the swinging movement of the bolt. A coil spring within the bolt is connected to both the control pin and the pivot pin and tends to draw these pins together.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a lock assembly for sliding doors having a novel adjustment means to. adjust the lock bolt in the lock assembly housing relative to the lock plate in the door frame so that engagement of the hook end of the bolt with the locking plate retains the door closed against the door frame. The adjustment means includes an adjusting member pivotally mounted within the housing and having serrated surfaces cooperating with serrated edges on the adjustment plates opposite the hub. A clamping screw is mounted in the housing to project into and threadingly engage the pivotally mounted member. The front wall of the housing has an opening therein complementally receiving the head of the screw in clamped position; the opening having a narrow extension or slot of a width substantially equal to the shank diameter of the screw so that upon outward movement of the screw, the head is brought beyond the housing and the extension slot allows lifting of the screw and pivoting of the adjustment member to disengage the serrations on the member and the adjusting plates.

Further objects are to provide a construction of maxi mum simplicity, efficiency, economy and ease of assembly and operation, and such further objects, advantages and capabilities as will later more fully appear and are inherently possessed thereby.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the lock assembly mounted in a door and a locking plate mounted on the door frame with the bolt engaged with the locking plate or strike, the door and frame being shown spaced apart for bolt adjustment and for the inclusion of a sealing means therebetween.

FIG. 2 is an edge elevational view of the removed from the door.

FIG. 3 is a partial side elevational view of the upper end of the lock assembly of FIG. 1 but showing the adjusting member in disengaged position to allow adjustment of the lock bolt.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross sectional view of the lock assembly taken on the line 44 of FIG. 2, but with the lock bolt in unlocked position.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the lock assembly and adjusting structure removed from the housing.

Referring more particularly to the disclosure in the drawings wherein is shown an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 discloses a lock assembly 10 mounted in a slot 11 formed in the edge of a sliding door 12 and having a bolt adapted to engage a locking plate or strike 13 secured by suitable fastening means 14 to a door frame or jamb 15; the locking plate having a slot or opening 16 aligned with a recess 17 in the frame receiving the locking bolt to lock the door in closed position. The lock assembly 10 includes a housing 18 which includes a side wall 19 and a parallel rear wall 21 and front wall 22. The front wall is provided with rounded ends 23, a rectangular generally central slot 24 and a circular opening 25 having an upwardly extending slot 26 opening thereinto.

A cover 27 for the housing 18 has a side wall 19 end walls 28, and mounting tabs or flanges 29 integral with the end walls 28 and extending outwardly from the housing. The flanges 29 have openings 31 therein to receive suitable fastening means 32 to mount the housing in the door. The sides 19, 19 of the housing and cover are pro vided with openings 35 generally aligned with the axis for the rounded end of slot 26, and have aligned openings 36 for suitable securing means such as screws 37 to retain the two-part housing together, and aligned enlarged openings 38 for receiving and locating a pivot arm 39.

A pivot arm 39 has a rotatable hub 41 at: one end with reduced ends 42 extending into and complementally received in the enlarged openings 38 in the side walls 19, 19. The hub has a slot or other suitable opening 43 extending axially therethrough to receive the shank of a suitable handle 44 (FIGS. 1 and 2). The opposite end of lock assembly the pivot arm 39 is rounded and has a hub portion 45 on one side and oppositely extending projections 46 on each side of the arm. A coil spring 47 is positioned with the coils thereof encompassing the rotatable hub 41 of the pivot arm and has one extended spring arm 48 having its end bearing against the rear wall 21 of the housing 18 and a second spring arm 49 with a curled end biased against the hub portion 45 so as to rotatably bias the pivot arm 39 in the counterclockwise direction as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4.

A pair of elongated irregularly shaped adjusting plates 51, 51 are mounted in spaced parallel relation on each side of the pivot arm 39 in the lock assembly 10, with each plate 51 having an opening 52 adjacent one end thereof conformably receiving the hub 41 of the pivot arm 39 (FIG. Each plate 51 is also provided with a smaller opening 53 to receive a pivot pin 54 and an adjacent arcuate slot 55 having a recess 56 at one end, the slot 55 receiving a control pin 57 to be described later. A narrowed end 58 is provided on each plate 51 having a serrated or toothed edge 59 thereon for a purpose to be described later; the openings 52 and 53 and the slots 55 in the two plates and the serrated edges 58 each being retained aligned to operate together.

A pair of elongated irregularly shaped locking arms 61, 61 are mounted in parallel arrangement within the adjusting plates 51, 51 (see FIGS. 2 and 5). Each locking arm 61 has an opening 62 adjacent one end 63 receiving a projection 46 therein of the pivot arm 39, and an angularly positioned slot 64 is located in the opposite enlarged end 65 to receive the control pin 57. A lock bolt 66 has an enlarged body 67 with an offset arm 68 terminating in a lateral hook end 69 having a rounded outer camming surface 71 and a locking surface 72. The body 67 is laterally slotted as at 73 and is provided with a pair of parallel but offset or staggered slots 74 and 75 therethrough; the slot 74 receiving the pivot pin 54 and the slot 75 receiving the control pin 57. The longitudinal slot 73 of the body houses a coil spring 76 having a central coil and curled ends 77 and 78 with curled end 77 encompassing the pivot pin 54 and the curled end 78 encompassing the control pin 57; the coil spring 76 tending to draw the pins 54 and 57 together.

At the upper end of the lock assembly is an adjusting device for the lock bolt 66 which includes an adjusting member 79 having oppositely disposed longitudinal notches 81 on the opposite sides 82 thereof defining a central tongue 83 therebetween. The notches 81 each have a serrated or toothed edge 84 adapted to cooperate with the serrated edge 59 of an adjusting plate 51; the tongue 83 extending between and separating the plates 51, 51. The adjusting member 79 is provided with a rounded end 85 having an opening 86 therethrough to receive a rivet 87 extending through the openings 36 in the housing and headed to retain the rivet in thehousing.

The opposite end of the member 79 has an internally threaded opening 88 (see FIG. 5) to receive the threaded shank 91 of a clamping screw 89. The screw extends through the opening 25 of the slot 26 in the front wall 22 and the opening 34 in the flange 33 of the cover 27 to threadingly engage in the opening 88 of the member 79. The opening 25 in the front wall 22 of the housing 18 conformably receives the slotted head 92, and the slot 26 is of a width substantially equal to the diameter of the threaded shank 91.

In the operation of the lock assembly 10, the assembly is normally in the position of FIGS. 1 and 2 as the pivot arm spring 47 biases the pivot arm 39 in a counterclockwise direction which moves the bolt 66 to its locking position as shown. To retract the bolt 66 into the housing 18 and cover 27, the handle 44 is manually rotated clockwise which in turn rotates the pivot arm 39 in a clockwise direction against the force of spring arm 49. Rotation of the pivot arm 39 causes the locking arms 61, 61

to move in an upward direction and, as the slots 64 in the ends 65 of the arms 61 are slanted, as seen in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, the initial upward movement of the arms 61 causes movement to the right of the control pin 57 within the slot of the bolt and out of the locking recesses 56 into the arcuate slots 55 of the adjusting plates 51. Further movement of the arms 61 moves the control pin 57 in the arcuate slots 55 to rotate the bolt 66 around the pivot pin 54 until the bolt is completely retracted within the housing and cover (see FIG. 4). Release of the handle 44 allows the spring 47 to rotate the pivot arm 39 in a counterclockwise direction and return the assembly to its initial condition with the control pin 57 in its deadlocking recesses 56.

If the door 12 is moved toward the jamb or frame 15 so that the bolt 66 engages the exterior of the locking plate 13, the bolt will not be damaged but will retract into the housing 18. To cause this retraction, the camming surface 71 of the bolt 66 engages the strike plate 13 and moves the bolt to the right, as seen in FIG. 1 with the bolt moving relative to the pivot pin 54 in view of the slot 74. Movement of the bolt to the right causes the slot 75 to move the control pin 57 out of the deadlocking recess 56 into the arcuate slot 55 so that the bolt can be cammed to rotate and be retracted into the assembly 10. Where the door engages the frame or a sealing gasket therebetween, the spring 47 will cause the parts to resume their normal positions with the hook end 69 of the bolt 66 received in the recess 17 behind the strike plate 13 and the latching surface 72 of the bolt cooperating with the interior surface of the plate 13.

When the bolt is in locked position as shown in FIG. 1, it can only be retracted by a handle or other authorized actuating means. The bolt cannot be retracted by the use of a tool inserted between the edge of the door and the frame as the bolt must be initially moved horizontally before being rotated where the handle 44 or other means rotating the pivot arm 39 is not used.

As the dimensions of sliding doors and frames will vary as will the type of sealing gaskets used thereon, the bolt 66 must be capable of adjustment relative to the assembly 10 and the door 12 to assure proper locking of the door and frame and proper engagement therebetween. FIG. 1 shows one position of the adjustment member 79 and the dotted line showing of the bolt 66 in the locked position in FIG. 4 shows a second position of adjustment. To vary the adjustment of the bolt 66, the clamping screw 89 is rotated by a suitable tool to withdraw the slotted head 92 from the opening 25; the threaded shank remaining in engagement with opening 88 of the adjusting member 79. Then, as seen in FIG. 3, the screw 89 is manually lifted to pivot the adjusting member 79 about the rivet 87 to disengage the serrations 84 from the serrated edges 59 of the adjusting plates 51, 51. The hooked end 69 of the lock bolt 66 is then manually moved in or out relative to the housing to cause the adjusting plates 51, 51 to pivot around the hub 41 of the pivot arm 39 to a new position. The adjusting member 79 is then pivoted downward to reengage the serrations 84 with serrated edges 59 and the clamping screw 89 is rotated to move the slotted head 92 into the opening 25 receiving it, with the screw now being held in fixed position (FIGS. 1 and 2).

While the improvement has been shown and described as being advantageously applicable to a sliding door lock assembly, it is not my desire or intent to unnecessarily limit the scope or the utility of the improved features by virtue of this illustrative embodiment.

Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim:

1. A door lock mechanism cooperating with a strike plate in the frame for the door, comprising a housing mounted in the edge of a door, a laterally movable and rotatable lock bolt mounted in the housing and having a hook end adapted to project beyond the housing for engaging the strike plate, said hook end having a camming surface and a latching surface, a pivot arm rotatable in said housing around a hub formed at one end of the arm, resilient means biasing the pivot arm in one direction of rotation, a pair of spaced parallel locking arms each rotatably mounted at one end on the end of the pivot arm opposite the hub, a control pin extending through the lock bolt and received in the opposite ends of the locking arms, a pair of spaced parallel adjusting plates in said housing and rotatably mounted adjacent one end on each side of the hub, adjusting means operatively connected to the opposite ends of the adjusting plates to retain the plates in adjusted position in the housing, said adjusting plates each having an aligned opening and an aligned arcuate slot, and a pivot pin extending through the bolt and received in the aligned openings in the adjusting plates, said control pin extending into the aligned arcuate slots for movement therein, each slot terminating at one end in a deadlocking recess receiving the control pin in the normal position of the pivot arm and locking arms, said lock bolt having a pair of parallel offset slots therein receiving the control pin and the pivot pin, a coil spring provided with one end engaging the control pin and an opposite end engaging the pivot pin tending to draw the pins together, said adjusting means including an adjusting member pivotally mounted at one end in the housing, said adjusting member being notched on opposite sides thereof with a serrated edge therein, said adjusting plates each having a serrated edge cooperating with said adjusting member generally opposite the rotatable mounting therefor, and means for clamping the adjusting member in position with said serrations engaging the serrated edges of the adjusting plates.

2. A door lock mechanism as set forth in claim 1, in which said clamping means includes a clamping screw having a threaded shank and a head, said adjusting member having an internally threaded opening receiving said threaded shank generally opposite the pivotal mounting for the adjusting member.

3. A door lock mechanism as set forth in claim 2, in cluding a front wall in said housing having an opening adjacent one end complementally receiving the head of the clamping screw and a slot opening into said opening and of a width substantially equal to the diameter of the threaded shank of the screw.

4. A door lock mechanism as set forth in claim 1, in which said adjusting member includes a depending tongue formed by said notches extending between and separating the serrated edges of said adjusting plates.

5. A door lock mechanism as set forth in claim 1, in which rotation of the pivot arm against the resilient means causes movement of the locking arms to move the control pin out of the deadlocking recess and into the arcuate slot to pivot and retract the bolt into the housing about said pivot pin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,789,852 4/1957 Eads 292 2,924,475 2/ 1960 Russell 292129 2,928,689 3/1960 Mineah 2921 13 2,980,458 4/1961 Russell 2921 13 3,105,711 10/1963 Woodworth et a1. 292113 RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner, R. L. WOLFE, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 292106, 

